Even with your strike being slightly ITM, that shouldn't take away your buying power by that much. I've been crunching some numbers and it doesn't really make sense to me at all. Maybe you should call up their help line to see what's up. I use optionsxpress.com. Their options platform is really great. thinkorswim.com is also good, but I've never used them before. It looks similar to optionsxpress. I do admit that the commission is a bit high. But, I've been with them for over 4 yrs. I'm a loyal customer I guess. Jun www.tplinvestment.com